Playing for Keeps
by Shades0fCool
Summary: Venom has always firmly believed that he's not the jealous type. But then Eddie meets Anne for dinner, and Venom finds that he was very, very wrong about the jealousy thing.


Something is not right.

Malicious gossip has it that Venom is not always the sharpest tool in the shed, but his instincts have never let him down in the past, and he doesn't believe they're starting now.

He snakes out of Eddie's shoulder and watches their reflection in the bathroom mirror. Eddie looks . . . nice. In fact, he looks _really_ nice today. His skin is soft and smells about ready to eat, not that Venom would do that. Last time was just an honest mistake, and he's learned from it. He didn't even mean to have a bite, it was just that Eddie's thigh had looked _so good_ all sweaty and bare in its running shorts. It had been sweaty _and_ bare _._ And attached to _Eddie,_ for the love of what's-his-name. Pete? It might be Pete, although that makes zero sense. They don't know a Pete. Venom makes a mental note to ask Eddie again later.

Venom returns his attention to his handsome host, who's currently in the process of gelling his hair to perfection. Venom's gaze drops from the way Eddie's nimble fingers weave through his hair to his jaw, which is clear of the usual dark scruff. Obviously, Eddie has shaved. He has _shaved_.

Something is _definitely_ not right.

Venom slithers around Eddie's neck and drips down his bare chest and stomach, chasing the remaining droplets of water from Eddie's shower on his skin, all the way until they disappear into the towel Eddie's wrapped around his waist, and then some.

"Hey buddy, what are you doing?" Eddie asks, a soft smile on his lips.

 _Buddy._ So Venom is _buddy_ again now. Interesting. He likes _baby_ a lot more. He wants Eddie to call him by that name again, preferably in this soft, breathy voice he gets when Venom's on top of him and Eddie can't get enough of kissing him. He wants the playful _baby_ when he's smearing chocolate all over Eddie's cheek so he can lick it off, the scolding _baby_ when he wakes Eddie in the middle of the night with a flick of his tongue, the _baby_ that's forced out between one laughing fit and the next, because Venom just won't stop nuzzling that ticklish spot on Eddie's hip bone.

He wants all of them. And he wants to tell Eddie that.

Instead he says, **"** **Nothing"** and curls up into a little ball on Eddie's shoulder, keeping a meticulous eye on him.

He's finally done with his hair—which looks more perfect than Venom ever remembers seeing it—and is reaching for his aftershave now. Not his everyday aftershave though, but the one that has 'Calvin Klein' printed on the label and, according to Eddie, is special occasion use only.

Venom dips beneath Eddie's skin and resurfaces on the other side of his neck to scent the spot Eddie's spritzing. He didn't mean to ask, but it doesn't look like Eddie's going to tell him why today is a special occasion, so really, he doesn't have a choice. They're in this together, after all.

He moves up to Eddie's ear and nuzzles the shell.

 **"What are you getting all pretty for, Eddie?"**

Eddie chuckles and looks at Venom in the mirror, their eyes meeting in the reflection. "You think I look pretty, V?"

Venom ripples with little tingles of adoration. " **You know I do. You're always pretty."**

Eddie smiles, and then lifts his hand to pet Venom's head. Venom arches into the touch as if it's been a lot longer since Eddie's touched him than the few hours it really is. He wishes Eddie would kiss him, _really_ kiss him, like they do when they're snuggled in bed together. But he doesn't, and for once, Venom tries not to be his usual needy self.

Eddie takes another look at himself in the bathroom mirror, his bracelets jingling when he reaches up to run his palm across the smooth skin on his jaw. He tilts his head slightly. So does Venom. He likes Eddie's scruff—likes the way it feels against Venom's skin when they touch, and even more when they kiss—which means he does not like the fact that it's gone now.

Eddie heads into the bedroom and takes a nice dress shirt out of the wardrobe. The material is silky soft and smooth against their skin. Venom blossoms out of Eddie's chest and nudges his hands away to do the buttons for him.

"Thanks, V," Eddie says. "Now that's handy."

Venom contemplates leaving the top button undone, but quickly decides against it. People are looking at Eddie all the time as it is, Venom sure won't do them the favor of offering more to see.

 **"You know I can be any piece of clothing you want me to be, Eddie. You don't have to wear those things if you don't like to."**

Eddie should just go with Venom's suggestion, not because Venom's literally purring with excitement at the mere thought of dressing Eddie in nothing but himself, but because it's handy. And handy is apparently exactly what Eddie wants. He's just trying to be a good symbiote here.

Eddie's looking for a pair of boxers now. He ends up deciding on plain black, but the tight kind.

"You know, actually, that would be pretty cool," Eddie says. "But what happens when I piss you off while we're out and you want to teach me a little lesson? Yep. I'm not that big on exhibitionism."

And then Eddie goes ahead and drops the towel. He's naked. _Stark_ naked from the waist down and Venom is staring and loosing drops of saliva that seep into Eddie's lovely new shirt.

Eddie shaved _down there_ , too.

The usual soft curls are neatly trimmed down to about six millimeters and for some reason, looking even softer and smoother than before. Venom's itching to touch and okay, lick, because that's what he does. He likes licking, and Eddie makes such a formidable object of all his licking desires. For a split second, Venom contemplates sneaking down to Eddie's thigh to steal a taste. But before he gets the chance to move through their body, Eddie has stepped into his boxers and packed away the goods. Venom visibly deflates.

 **"I'd never do that,"** he says quietly in response to Eddie's mock accusation. He's still staring at Eddie's groin, mourning the missed chance. **"Nobody gets to see you naked, Eddie."**

 _Nobody but me,_ he thinks, but doesn't say it out loud.

Eddie turns around and grabs his jeans from where they're neatly laid out on top of the bed. Venom takes care of his fly, _without_ touching anything but the zipper and button. It's not like he _can't_ be good, because he can. Sometimes.

"Aww, don't tell me you're jealous?" Eddie bumps Venom's head affectionately with his cheek.

Jealous. Venom knows what that means, and he's _not_ jealous. The facts speak for themselves. Eddie is his and he is Eddie's. They belong with each other. They are one; a _we._ There's literally no room for anyone else between them, ergo, there's no one to be jealous of. Ha, now that's a solid rationale.

 **"I'm not jealous,"** Venom says insistently. **"You are mine."** He's meant to assert his claim, but instead, it comes out questioning and a tad insecure. And because he needs to know, needs to hear Eddie say it, he asks, **"Aren't you?"**

"V." Eddie sits on the bed and pats the spot next to him. "Mind coming out here for a second?"

Venom snakes out of Eddie's back, bigger now, and with a fully formed head and torso. There's just enough space between them so they don't touch anywhere else but where they are connected. The streak of joy when Eddie closes the distance and tangles his hand in a few loose tendrils is immediate. Venom cozies up to Eddie's shoulder while he continues to pet him, trying and failing not to get lost in the moment.

"Hey there," Eddie says while he leans in to press a sweet and way-too-short kiss on the top of Venom's head. "V, I am yours. Not because we're bound by the symbiosis, but because I chose you, just like you chose me. I'll always choose you. Okay?"

Venom remembers having more questions about this particular topic at some point, but he can't seem to recall any of them now. Now that Eddie's started to lay the sweetest kind of kisses on him, that is—the soft, adoring ones that make Venom feel like he's a treasure Eddie wants to hide away and keep all to himself.

 **"Okay,"** Venom echoes breathlessly, weak and pliant and utterly at Eddie's mercy.

Eddie lies down on the bed and takes Venom with him, holding him in his arms on top of him while he continues kissing Venom's mouth, his cheeks, the corner of his eye. Venom shifts into his full physical form to press Eddie into the mattress, and now Eddie is the one who's breathless.

"V," he whispers, panting softly. "I can't . . . I'm going to be late—"

Venom nudges Eddie's thighs apart and snakes a thick tendril down to where Eddie is hard and throbbing underneath his jeans.

 **"You could** **go out like that,"** Venom teases, running the tip of his tongue across Eddie's jaw and missing the familiar scruff pricking his flesh, **"Or you could let me take care of you. I'll be quick."**

Venom knows Eddie can't really argue with that, because he's obviously turned on something fierce and if Venom's learned anything in the past few days, it's that walking around with _that_ between their legs is pretty uncomfortable.

The buttons on Eddie's fine shirt are open in less than a second and then Venom is in, running his tentacles all over Eddie's chest, flicking against his nipples and savoring the delicious noises he's trying so hard to stifle. Another deft tentacle opens Eddie's fly, and it's a good thing they are getting Eddie's jeans out of the way, because now Venom can really make him scream.

* * *

They are walking down the street in a half-sprint about an hour later, Eddie still complaining about being late to wherever it is they are headed. Venom's snuggled in one of Eddie's heart chambers, purring hard enough to have Eddie rub at his chest every other minute.

" _Someone_ is happy, huh?" Eddie asks under his breath. They still don't have the mental communication part down, so Eddie's forced to play pretend with the Bluetooth headset they're using for now.

Venom sighs in response. He also pushes the memory of Eddie's gorgeous afterglow face through their bond, the one where his lips are parted and his eyes are closed and he looks as if he's just tasted the best chocolate on the planet. Eddie gasps in response, but manages to gloss it over with a cough when a group of nearby girls dart suspicious glances at him.

"Thanks a lot, V," Eddie grumbles and crosses the street.

Venom slips out of Eddie's chest, but stays beneath his shirt. He nestles into the hollow of Eddie's collarbone and presses conciliatory licks into his skin.

 **Sorry, but you are beautiful.**

Eddie rolls his eyes, but Venom can see the soft blush rising in Eddie's cheeks from all the way down here. He spreads out, wrapping Eddie's chest and shoulders in dozens of tendrils, holding him tight. It's their equivalent of a hug whenever they're outside and Venom can't show himself. The smile on Eddie's lips is small and secretive, his hand rubbing his stomach where Venom is holding onto him (and maybe playing with the smattering of hair that leads down to his, uh, _well)._

"We're almost there," Eddie says quietly while he gives the black bracelet that's just materialized on his wrist a pointed look. "Be good, okay?"

Venom guesses he wasn't so subtle with touching Eddie where he's not supposed to after all. Too bad virtually nothing ever slips his attention.

They round the corner and the world begins to shake. Venom snaps from lazy adoration to full-on fight mode, at least until he realizes it's not the world that's shaking, but _them._ Or more precisely, Eddie's heart, which is currently beating up a storm inside his chest. What's going on? Venom has no idea. Until suddenly, he does.

"Eddie!"

"Annie, hey!"

She's standing there on the sidewalk, looking absolutely stunning in a pristine white sweater and silver earrings that sparkle in the twilight. Her cheeks are pink, presumably from the slight chill in the air today, and her hair is just the right kind of wind-swept. Apparently, Eddie agrees, because he's reacting to Anne in a way Venom can't quite place; he's excited and a tiny bit nervous and there's this wave of _happy_ that's miles high and rolling through them with mind-blowing force. Previously, Venom was sure he's been the only one who can elicit such an intense reaction from Eddie, who can make him _this_ happy, but as it turns out, he'd been very, very wrong.

And now, he just feels hollow and superfluous and that's one of those feelings that make him want to take over their body and run to where it can't catch them. Back to their apartment and under their sheets, where Eddie belongs to him and there's nobody else who can make him feel the way Venom makes him feel.

Venom shrinks back beneath Eddie's skin when Anne smiles and says "come here, big boy" and pulls Eddie into a hug tight enough to make Eddie's breath hitch. Eddie doesn't mind one bit. No, he hugs her back just as tight and Venom doesn't miss just how perfectly his arms fit around her body.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Eddie says when Anne releases him. He doesn't take a step back though, and neither does she. "Something . . . came up. One of those last minute things, you know how those are."

The 'something that came up' being Venom. Okay wow, so where Venom is trying to convince himself that the hug didn't hurt, _this_ definitely does. He retreats back into Eddie's heart chamber, but quickly trades his favorite spot for a lame renal artery when he finds that Eddie's heart is still doing fierce overtime.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I've only been waiting—" she pulls back her sleeve and glances at a delicate silver wristwatch, "oh look, twenty-three minutes." She turns her wrist so Eddie can see the clock face and Eddie curses.

"Damn, it's really been that long? Shit, I'm sorry, Annie," he says, sounding honestly dismayed.

Anne laughs and nudges Eddie's shoulder. "I'm just messing with you! But wow, you should see the look on your face. Is it weird that I feel a tiny bit honored that you care so much?"

"Of course I care," Eddie says. "It's one of those irritating drawbacks that come with liking someone."

He nudges Anne back, and then nobody says anything, they just stand there and gaze at each other, knowing smiles on their lips and that stupidly soft look in their eyes. It gives Venom the shivers, and not the good kind.

"Well, that, I can confirm," Anne says. She nods to the building next to them, which has a sign saying 'La Ciccia' on the front and looks like a food place. "I'm starving, by the way. You ready to go in?"

Eddie nods and follows Anne inside the restaurant. It's very brief, but he checks out her backside and those endless legs with the tiny shoes women like to wear sometimes, 'high heels' Venom believes. Anne's high heels are open at the front, showing her tiny toes topped with red nails. It's not hard to figure out that Eddie likes what he's seeing, the backside _and_ the red nails. There's a flicker of a memory sweeping through Eddie's mind—red lips and red nails and red scratch marks on his skin. It's gone before Venom can take a second look, but it leaves a feeling of fond remembrance in its wake. Eddie is smiling.

They sit down at their booth and start looking through their menus. Usually, Venom is the first to impose requirements regarding the food they eat, but today, he stays silent. He has a feeling him speaking up—and if only in Eddie's mind—would not be appreciated. Eddie has asked him to be good, and yes, he's trying. He's really, really trying.

They order 'the regular', whatever that is, and red wine with a fancy French name Eddie apparently can't pronounce, because when he tries, they both laugh.

"So, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Anne says. "How are you, Eddie? How is life?"

"It's . . . good. Really good," Eddie says, and for the first time since they got here, Venom perks up. "I'm working on this huge article for the Chronicle right now, and it's amazing. I think writing is really it for me. Who would've thought, huh?"

He doesn't say anything else, and Venom's hope shrivels into nothingness. Sure, he didn't exactly expect Eddie to have a heart-to-heart with Anne and tell her things like, well, for example Eddie having his first time with his symbiote last week and them being _together_ together now, but he at least hoped Eddie would _mention_ him in one way or another.

Anne reaches over and squeezes Eddie's hand. Venom hisses before he can stop himself, making Eddie jolt.

 _What's up, V?_ Eddie asks in their mind.

Venom hates that this has to be one of the instances where their mental communication works, because he's dying to give his supposed boyfriend a piece of his mind right now when he can't. What he means to say is 'nothing', or maybe 'hungry', which would be perfectly credible, but what comes out instead is, **Hand.**

Eddie smiles along with something Anne is saying, and then asks, _Hand?_

 **Her hand. On yours.**

Eddie's looking down to where his hand is still joined with Anne's, the surprise obvious on his face. Venom doesn't have the patience to wait until he's put two and two together. He takes control over Eddie's arm and pulls back, Anne's hand making a soft _slap_ when it hits the tabletop.

She gives him a slightly awkward smile, but resumes their conversation. "I'm so happy everything's going well for you, Eddie, I really am. You've been through so much. Good is exactly what you need right now."

Warmth blooms in Eddie's chest, so intense that it rays out until all of Eddie feels warm inside.

"Thank you, Annie. I'm not going to deny that I've been through enough crazy to last me a lifetime, but . . . well, there's something good that's come out of it all," Eddie says, smiling softly.

Anne returns his smile. "Yes, right. How is our friend, by the way? I don't think I've seen him yet."

 **And you won't** , Venom sulks at Eddie.

There's a gust of confusion from Eddie, but Venom ignores it. He's about had it with the fond smiles, the soft touches and the even softer memories playing through Eddie's mind in response to every little thing Anne says or does. Isn't _he_ supposed to be Eddie's boyfriend, his partner? Because it sure doesn't feel like it right now, with the way he's making googly eyes at his ex.

"He's fine, yeah . . . just p-perfect," Eddie coughs out. Venom is poking at his ribs, hoping that's what will stop the ignorance rolling so easily off Eddie's lips, because he's obviously _not_ fine. He's a whole lot right now—pissed and hurt comes to mind—but surely not fucking _fine._ And yeah, Eddie's told him people curse when they are pissed, so that's exactly what Venom does.

 **Damn. Shit. Fuck. Shitfuck.**

"Sorry, will you excuse me for a second? Just gotta run to the bathroom real quick before the food arrives," Eddie says, apologetic smile and all, his hand rubbing the spot on his ribs Venom's poked hard enough to leave a mark. Serves him right.

"Eddie, is everything alright?" Anne asks like the good person she is. "You seem . . . agitated."

Venom could really let Eddie have it right now, make him look like a fool by poking him until he's an unintelligible mess on the floor. He decides not to, but only because that'll get him Eddie alone in the bathroom.

"No, no. I'm fine," Eddie says, waving the question off. "I'll be right back. Don't start without me."

Eddie marches straight into one of the bathroom stalls and starts to pace. His arms are crossed in front of his chest and there's a wrinkle of irritation between his eyebrows, as if _he_ has the right to be mad.

"Would you please tell me what in the world is wrong with you?" he asks. His tone is one of confused exasperation. Venom half expects him to throw his hands up in the air like he's seen people do on TV. "We were fine before we left!"

Venom settles against Eddie's spine and ripples softly, up and down, down and up. Eddie shivers despite himself, color flooding his cheeks, "V."

 **Stop acting like this with her. I don't like it.**

"Like what, huh?" Eddie asks, and then he does throw his hands up. "This is _Anne,_ V. We like Anne. Don't you remember that?"

Yes, so maybe Eddie has a point. Maybe they do like her, maybe she is a genuinely good person and has been nothing but a great friend to them, but all that does not vindicate Eddie and her being so _intimate_ with each other, so close and . . . perfect.

Maybe that's what hurts the most, how undeniably well they go together. Anne is human, just like Eddie, she's beautiful and funny and one hundred percent supportive of everything Eddie does. She's right there, where she can hold Eddie's hand in the middle of a crowded restaurant, where she can hug and kiss him whenever she wants to, where he can have a conversation with her without having to use a stupid Bluetooth earpiece.

With Venom, none of those things can happen, ever. It's not something he can give Eddie, and once the indisputability of that fact sinks in, he feels sick. Maybe he shouldn't have stayed here, on Earth, and impose on every aspect of Eddie's life. Or maybe, he should've never come here in the first place.

 **Sorry** , he says quietly.

Eddie sighs and leans against the wall. The tile is cool against their skin. It's comforting. "There's nothing to worry about, you hear me? Anne will always be an important part of my life, but you and me, we're a _we_ now."

Venom is still hurt and he's still mad, but now, he can't say that he doesn't understand where Eddie's coming from, because he does. It makes sense—tragic, but perfect sense. So, he gives up. He gives in.

 **Sorry, Eddie** , he says again. **I'm sorry.**

Eddie rubs the spot on his chest Venom's presently curled up in. Venom wants nothing more than to creep out and arch into Eddie's hand, feel his fingers caressing his skin, but he gets that he's messed up and doesn't exactly deserve affection for it, so he doesn't ask.

"Ready to go back out there?" Eddie asks. He senses Venom's defeat and sadness—sure, Venom is doing absolutely nothing to hide it—and pushes memories of their morning together through their bond, of Venom peppering sweet, little kisses all over his face, of whispered _I love you's_ and waking up hopelessly tangled in each other's arms.

Venom ripples with happiness at the intimate images, touched and grateful beyond words that Eddie's here to comfort him even when he's being a bit difficult.

 **I love you, Eddie,** he whispers in their mind while he replays the memories again and again, holding on in case it turns out to be what he needs to get him through the night.

"Me, too," Eddie says and pushes away from the wall to walk back to their table.

Much to his chagrin, Venom has to admit that 'the regular' Eddie has ordered tastes delicious, even if he wouldn't have minded a larger portion. He's happily purring in Eddie's chest—back in his favorite spot, curled around Eddie's heart—and listening to Anne telling stories about her new job as a public defender.

"It's great," she's saying, her eyes lighting up with sincerity. "It feels like this is what I'm meant to do."

She takes a sip from her coffee and gives Eddie a bright smile. Eddie's heart rate picks up again, and not even Venom's gentle squeezing around the muscle does anything to slow it down.

"So, you're saying me doing what I did wasn't all bad? Something good came out of it? Because that would be much needed balm on my conscience."

Anne smiles and suddenly, they're sitting a lot closer than they were a second ago.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Don't get me wrong, what you did was abysmal—"

Eddie shudders and nods.

"—but I do forgive you. You've changed a lot since then."

"Yeah, fortunately," Eddie says. He's leaning into Anne a tiny bit more, just one or two inches, but it's too much for comfort. Venom's comfort, that is. "Figuring out you're an irredeemable asshole for betraying your fiancée's trust will do that to you."

Anne's so close now that Venom—and thus, Eddie—can make out the flecks of blue in her hazel eyes.

"You're not irredeemable, Eddie," she says, and she's lifting her hand and reaching over, closer and closer and _closer_ still, and then her fingers whisper over Eddie temple and she's brushing his hair back and Eddie's trembling because of it. "You know, sometimes . . . sometimes I miss you."

Not once in his life has Venom wished for someone to knock him out cold, but let's just say that if there was a MRI somewhere around here, Venom would gladly hurl himself into it, just so he doesn't have to watch _this._ This, where Eddie is smiling back at Anne, genuine and warm and with a dash of mischief, as if they're sharing a secret. This, where Eddie's mind is flooded with memories of them together, of stealing lazy kisses on a Sunday morning, of naked cuddles and whispered love confessions. Of Eddie looking at Anne and saying, "Sometimes I miss you, too."

And that's it. Fuck being good.

Anne gasps in surprise and confusion when Venom takes over their body and puts as much space between them as the booth allows. Eddie's yelling in their head, something about how Venom's lost his damn mind and _back the fuck off, Venom,_ but Venom doesn't listen. He feels Eddie thrashing for control, but Venom fights off his attempts with ease. He looks at Anne and for what it's worth, drops a quiet "I'm sorry" before he runs. Out of the restaurant, down the street, across crosswalks and cars that honk at them. He just runs, back to their apartment, to safety, away from prying eyes and all the feelings Anne wakes in Eddie. Back to their impenetrable little bubble of bliss, where Eddie is his and it's just them, just Eddie and Venom.

Just _us._


End file.
